Swin Cash read a love letter — to her mother.

She recited the words after receiving an Africana Icon Award at the third annual Africanism Gala on Saturday at Heinz Hall in Downtown Pittsburgh.

The evening, which highlighted Black beauty, was held in collaboration with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. It featured “The Unspoken Elegance of Stillness: A Love Letter to Black Women,” a documentary by British filmmaker Simon Frederick.

An NCAA women’s basketball and WNBA champion, U.S. Olympian, member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and 2025 inductee to the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, Cash, who grew up in McKeesport, was honored along with Fatou Jobe, a Bronx, N.Y.-based international fashion model, and Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey.

A short video captured Cash’s career as a basketball player at all levels. Her professional life includes time as a sports executive for the NBA. She has covered basketball for Turner Sports, CBS Sports and MSG Network. Her most recent position has been an analyst and front office insider on Amazon Prime Video.

Fiercest of them all

Before she read her letter, she took a moment to find her mother, Cynthia Cash-Smith, who attended with husband Reggie Smith.

“Dear Mama,

“You raised me that no matter where I went in the world to return home. So to the Black woman, the heartbeat of a nation, the quiet storm and the calm after it, the dream and the dreamer, the giver of life, of love, of her legacy…tonight, I write this letter of love to one of the first and fiercest of them all, my mother, Cynthia.

“You taught me how to stand tall, long before I ever learned how to dribble the basketball. You showed me that strength doesn’t have to shout and that grace can live right beside it.

“You taught me that beauty isn’t about the world and what they see. It’s about how I see myself, how I love myself, and how I care about myself.”

Cash said there are times women question if they are enough. She urged the more than 600 guests in the room to start with the positive and to know that they are enough.

“You have to tell yourself what you know about yourself, the positive, and then be able to chase your dream,” Cash said.

Her dream began in the Mon Valley as a standout player for the McKeesport Tigers, a fitting mascot name for Cash, who has always had that eye-of-the-tiger mentality.

An inspiration

Cash, 46, played for powerhouse UConn women’s basketball team before being drafted into the WNBA. She was named among the WNBA’s 20 greatest and most influential players of all time.

She is a former senior vice president of basketball operations and team development for the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans and a philanthropist through her Cash For Kids Foundation, empowering youth in communities.

Cash is married to Steve Canal. They have two sons, Saint and Syer, and live in Atlanta. She said she hopes to emulate her mother’s guidance for her sons in sports and in life.

“I am a mother, a wife, a daughter, a friend, an advocate and an ally,” Cash said. “I feel like I’ve been so blessed throughout my life and to experience sports at the highest level. I never remember single awards that I’ve won but I always remember the championship. I believe in winning, not only on the court, but in life and everything that you do. So that’s how I approach my days with the mindset of having that winning edge.”

Cash said when the world looks at a Black woman, they see two things — before that woman even says a word.

“They see a woman,” Cash said. “And they see that you’re Black. They can put two strikes on you so you know how hard you have to work and how hard you have to compete to get to where you want to go.”

The city of steel

Gainey applauded Cash for her determination and called her an inspiration, not only for Black women, but for everyone.

It is important to pay it forward and help to create a path for other young people, a path she’s taken with help from her mother, Cash said. When society tried to shrink her, Cash said she heard the supporting words of her mother, echoing louder.

Cash-Smith gave her daughter a blueprint to help guide her to dream beyond what she could see. Cash-Smith always reminds her child to make sure to never forget where she came from — the 412, the city of steel.

“Every time I stand on a court, in a board room or on a stage like this today, I carry you with me,” Cash said. “You are the rhythm to my steps, you’re the calm in the fight and the faith where I go and every time I leap. This night is for every mother who planted seeds in her daughter’s spirit and told her ‘grow even when that soil is hard.’”

Cash recognized all of the Black women in attendance and Black women everywhere. She said they are all descendants of resilience.

“We have silence in our DNA, not the silence of weakness, but of wisdom,” Cash said. “We move mountains with grace. We carry legacies in our laughter. We hold families and movements together. When the world tries its hardest to pull them apart in a society that still questions our power, our beauty, our right to simply be, we keep standing tall. Keep loving ourselves, loving our families, keep building spaces where light can just simply breathe, because when we rise, we never rise alone. We lift our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, the community, generation after generation after generation.”

She founded Cash for Kids, a non-profit that’s committed to providing the essential tools — on and off the court — for children and to motivate, educate and elevate kids through physical fitness, nutrition, education, cultural trips and sports camps.

Cash also started She’s Got Time, a media and lifestyle company offering a professional ecosystem where women with careers in sports and adjacent industries can thrive.

Cash said there are many challenges in society right now that an evening like the Africanism Gala brings promise and hope. When asked about the popularity of female athletes from basketball to volleyball, she smiled.

Attendance at women’s sporting events is increasing and they are getting more television coverage.

“They are living our wildest dreams,” Cash said. “A lot of women who came before them sacrificed and to see female athletes getting the recognition they deserve is wonderful.”

Seeing Swin Cash is enlightening for young Black girls, said Karen Hall, a basketball player who led Mt. Alvernia to a 34-0 season and state title in 1983. Hall played for the UNLV Lady Rebels and was inducted in the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame with Cash in October.

“To have authentic Black women around you who are performing at a high level, whether it be on the basketball court or in life, that inspires others to believe in themselves,” said Hall, who lives in Pittsburgh’s East End. She is assistant executive director of Ozanam, the basketball and education program, and operates a leadership training services and consulting business. “If you have more than one Black woman like that in your life, that becomes your tribe.”

Cash has been surrounded by a strong tribe, led by her mom.

“It was an amazing evening,” Cash-Smith said. “I am speechless. Her love letter was beautiful. Swin is a role model. I have always told her that nothing is impossible. She said she looks up to me, but I look up to her.”

Cash said she will never forget her Western Pennsylvania, Mon Valley, McKeesport roots and the woman who is the foundation of what it means to always be welcomed home.

“Mama, thank you for showing me how to walk tall, how to love deep, how to never forget that my roots are strong.

“This award isn’t just for me, it’s for you, Mama.”

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